Organise the Alliance for Collective Defence Ashley Townshend and Brendan Thomas-Noone
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ORGANISE THE ALLIANCE FOR COLLECTIVE DEFENCE ASHLEY TOWNSHEND AND BRENDAN THOMAS-NOONE 58 Context and background defence. Some regional precedents exist. In 1951, the US developing joint operational concepts. Hicks has also and Australian navies signed the Radford-Collins Agree- proposed co-developing and co-producing an auxiliary Australia and the United States should advance oper- ment to coordinate maritime security responsibilities supply ship to offset the costs and expand the capacity ational-level coordination within and beyond the in the Indo-Pacific — the only mechanism of its type in of the United States and its allies to sustain and resupply alliance to facilitate a collective approach to deter- the alliance which, while still in force, needs substan- forward-deployed forces during high-end conflict.9.9 rence and defence in the Indo-Pacific. It is now well tial updating.9.5 Later in the Cold War, the United States Pursuing new forms of defence networking with regional accepted in Washington and Canberra that the United and Japan pursued similar, if more comprehensive, militaries is also high on the Biden team’s agenda.9.10 States cannot uphold a favourable balance of power in approaches to dividing operational responsibilities for 9.1 This is likely to build on common operating platforms the region alone. China’s increasingly large and sophis- anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and maritime blockades like the P-8 maritime surveillance and ASW aircraft that ticated military is eroding the foundations of American in the Western Pacific.9.6 These are useful constructs for 9.2 is operated by the United States, Australia and India. power in the Western Pacific. While the Pentagon is the United States and Australia to consider when thinking As some incoming administration officials have under- working to find technological and operational offsets to about collective defence operations today. the problems China presents, it faces rising budgetary scored, common capabilities allow easier integration pressures, daunting modernisation challenges and a and data sharing, providing ripe opportunities for coor- 9.11 host of unrelated domestic and global commitments.9.3 The Biden administration dinated maritime patrols in the Indo-Pacific. Others highlight the need to find “complementarities” between Australia is heavily implicated by these trends. Canberra The Biden administration appears open to exploring US and allied forces, which could facilitate more effective has core interests in the preservation of a stable stra- new approaches to collective defence in the region with combined presence deployments and have potential to tegic order in the Indo-Pacific and a key role to play in militarily capable allies like Australia. Whether this trans- develop into standing maritime task forces.9.12 However, upholding this order alongside the United States and lates into action on sensitive issues — such as reading key as these proposals will require major changes to the other allies and partners. allies into US military planning at early stages of devel- way the US military has cooperated with partners for opment — is yet to be seen.9.7 President Biden’s Deputy Yet the US-Australia alliance lacks the tools to implement the past three decades, they will encounter significant Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks, has, for instance, a strategy of collective defence. Despite a very high level bureaucratic and political hurdles in both Canberra and of military interoperability, Canberra and Washington written about the need for a “federated” approach to 9.8 Washington. have not developed processes for coordinating mili- Indo-Pacific defence policy. This would see the United tary strategy, undertaking combined contingency plan- States and key regional allies integrate military capa- ning or assigning roles and responsibilities for regional bilities into comprehensive security architectures to operations.9.4 Such measures are required to transform achieve common approaches to a range of strategic the alliance into a credible vehicle for deterrence and policy issues: from expanding defence value chains to 59 Figure 9. Major anti-submarine warfare exercises involving Australia and the United States Misawa Surface ship participation JAPAN Submarine participation Yokosuka Aircraft participation CHINA Exercise SEA DRAGON Okinawa Last iteration: 2021 TAIWAN Participants: Australia, Canada, India, Japan, United States INDIA Bay of Bengal South China Sea Guam (USA) Exercise MALABAR Andaman PHILIPPINES and Nicobar Last iteration: 2020 Islands (India) Exercise PACIFIC VANGUARD Participants: Australia, Last iteration: 2020 India, Japan, United States MALAYSIA Participants: Australia, Japan, Exercise LA PEROUSE SINGAPORE South Korea, United States Last iteration: 2019 Participants: Australia, PAPUA France, Japan, United States INDONESIA NEW GUINEA TIMOR-LESTE Darwin Cocos (Keeling) Islands RAAF Base Darwin (Australia) RAAF Base Tindal INDIAN OCEAN Exercise OCEAN EXPLORE RAAF Base Townsville Last iteration: 2019 Participants: Australia, New Zealand, United States AUSTRALIA PACIFIC OCEAN Legend Access points for potential US and Perth RAAF Base Pearce Australian combined ASW patrols Exercise LUNGFISH RAAF Base Edinburgh Access points for potential wider allied Last iteration: 2019 and partner combined ASW patrols Participants: Australia, United States NEW ZEALAND 60 Sources: Department of Defence; Royal Australian Navy; Commander, US 7th Fleet; Commander, US Pacific Fleet9.13 Australian interests Australia has a strategic interest in minimising these AS CHINA’S CAPACITY TO PROJECT POWER INTO AUSTRALIA’S NORTHERN hurdles, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. As APPROACHES INTENSIFIES, AND AS THE UNITED STATES’ INTEREST IN AUSTRALIA the United States’ unilateral ability to uphold the regional AS A STRATEGIC LOCATION AND REGIONAL MILITARY PARTNER GROWS, CANBERRA order declines, contributing to a coalition defence AND WASHINGTON WILL FIND THEIR SECURITY INTERESTS MORE CLOSELY ALIGNED THAN AT ANY TIME IN THE 70-YEAR HISTORY OF THE ALLIANCE. arrangement that preserves stability and halts Chinese military expansion is Canberra’s next best strategic policy option.9.14 This idea lies behind Australia’s 2020 Defence Strategic Update and the government’s emphasis on advancing both independent and allied capabilities to deter major powers and shape the regional strategic Policy recommendations environment.9.15 Building mechanisms for US-Australia Australia and the United States should organise the alliance for collective defence in an active but cautious military coordination on key region-wide tasks, such way, focusing on two immediate lines of effort: as ASW operations and theatre missile defence, are the building blocks of such a strategy — even if allied › Explore options for combined strategic and military planning centred around high-value integration is not desirable or possible across all capa- scenarios and maritime operations. For collective defence to function at an operational level, the US bilities and mission sets. This approach may also assist military must read-in, involve and collaborate with Australia — and other close allies — at the earliest Canberra to realise its long-standing goal of tethering possible stage of the planning process.9.16 This is an unrealised objective of the 2018 US National Washington more firmly to its immediate region. The Defense Strategy.9.17 Canberra and Washington should pursue this goal in a stepwise way, beginning reason for this is clear: As China’s capacity to project with contingency planning for Pacific and Southeast Asian scenarios that could involve a limited use power into Australia’s northern approaches intensi- of force by China. Both allies should also explore combined command structures for peacetime fies, and as the United States’ interest in Australia as a surveillance and ASW patrols between Cocos Islands, Northern Australia and Guam; broadening strategic location and regional military partner grows, these to include India and Japan, with access to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Japanese Canberra and Washington’s security needs in Austral- archipelago. ia’s Indo-Pacific neighbourhood are becoming more › Update and expand the 1951 Radford-Collins Agreement. Although this non-binding navy-to-navy closely aligned than at any time in the 70-year history arrangement worked to coordinate allied maritime responsibilities in the Cold War, it is too limited of the alliance. for today’s security environment.9.18 New operations and geographic settings should be explored to include the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and South Pacific, with a revised agreement accounting for recent force posture initiatives and offering a basis for new ones. A service-level agreement to coordinate — rather than integrate — national responsibilities on key maritime tasks may be a less politically sensitive way to progress towards combined operations. Ideally, any revised agreement should be expanded beyond the maritime domain to include air, land, space and cyber forces, either jointly or in separate service-level arrangements. 61.